Editing Hell's Hinges (section)

===Later historical assessments===
In September 1994, ''Hell's Hinges'' experienced a revival following a screening at the Film Center of the School of the Chicago Art Institute.<ref name=MW/>  At the time, the ''Chicago Tribune'''s movie critic, Michael Wilmington, called ''Hell's Hinges'' "Hart's acknowledged masterpiece," "perhaps the finest movie Western made before [[John Ford]]'s 1939 ''[[Stagecoach (1939 film)|Stagecoach]]''," and "as emotionally powerful as any American [[Western (genre)|Western]] film of the teens, except for the masterpieces of [[D.W. Griffith]] and [[Erich Von Stroheim]]."<ref name=MW>{{cite news|author=Michael Wilmington|title=Cowboy Pioneer Before Tom Mix Hit His Stride, William S. Hart Dominated the Western|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=1994-09-01}}</ref>

Two months after the showing in Chicago and Wilmington's review, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."<ref>{{cite news|title=25 Films Added to National Registry|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1994-11-15}}</ref>

In 1997, ''[[Film Comment]]'' published a review calling ''Hell's Hinges'' a "classic of its kind" and arguing that "to dismiss it casually as a western would be a mistake, for it more resembles ''[[The Saga of Gosta Berling|The Atonement of Gosta Berling]]'' than it does ''[[Riders of the Purple Sage]]''.<ref name=FC>{{cite magazine|author=Anonymous|title=Hell's Hinges|magazine=Film Comment|date=Jan–Feb 1997}}</ref>  The reviewer gave particular praise to Hart's directorial skill:

<blockquote>The camera placement here, the simple yet effective symbolism, and the flair for spectacle as in the brilliantly handled mob scenes where all of [[Thomas H. Ince#Inceville - The First Modern Studio|Inceville]] goes up in smoke, the real 'feel' of the old, dusty, unglamorised West, all should have earned Hart a reputation as one of the great directors. ... For the most part, 'Hell's Hinges' offers highpowered drama rather than traditional western action. ... Fine camerawork utilising long panoramic shots, excellent cutting and a sure control over the masses of extras fuse this into an episode of astonishing vigor. Hart, his assistant Cliff Smith, his writer Gardner Sullivan and cameraman Joe August were one of the sturdiest (and least appreciated) teams of craftsmen the cinema ever produced.<ref name=FC/></blockquote>

The film was given a centenary screening at the [[Museum of Modern Art]] in January 2016.<ref name=Brody2016>{{Cite magazine |last=Brody |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Brody |date=January 11, 2016 |title=Movies: 'Hell's Hinges' |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |publisher=Condé Nast |page=9 }}</ref> In a capsule review for the occasion, ''The New Yorker'''s [[Richard Brody]] praised the film for its uncommon intensity: "The images are as direct and bare as the characters' emotions, and the harsh drama builds to a mad, apocalyptic climax of crime and revenge."<ref name=Brody2016/>